Augie d1 thread

[SW_Mustang]

That would be interesting. Not sure how much it is costing at the D3 level= but the expense of men's (and womens) hockey at the D1 level would be high.

One thing that people don't think about in the jump to D1 is the expense of sports other than football and basketball. It is a lot- and you either have to raise a lot of money for "non-revenue" sports- or drop some of them.

I remember hearing that Bemidji State had to build* the Sanford Center because their old arena didn't meet WCHA requirements. That was one detail for one sport to switch conferences in the same division.

I can't imagine what an entire program jumping up to D1 would cost.

(I know funding came in from all over and it's not exclusively *their* arena, but my point still stands.)

[Augieholic]

Augustana's D1 announcement was a part of a plan titled "Vision 2030" which literally implies a decade plus runway for these goals. It's literally in the name.

St Thomas being punished for success by a bunch of frightened administrators left them with few realistic options and clearly the best one was apply to go D1. St Thomas has a great location, a robust amount of alums, and a ton of cash so the Summit should absolutely want them in their conference.

If Augustana is able to present a viable financial path forward to D1 sustainability, which I think they will when they are ready, to go along with a location and market which already supports them on par with numerous D1 programs then the Summit should absolutely want them in their conference as well. One may or may not impact the other. We'll just have to wait and see.

[Augieholic]

Billboard "paid for by Concerned Augustana Alumni" that recently went up in Sioux Falls

paid for by Concerned Augustana Alumnists*

Alumnists isn't a real word, I think that sums up the level of thought put into this expression of free speech.

[Twincitiesmav]

That would be interesting. Not sure how much it is costing at the D3 level= but the expense of men's (and womens) hockey at the D1 level would be high.

One thing that people don't think about in the jump to D1 is the expense of sports other than football and basketball. It is a lot- and you either have to raise a lot of money for "non-revenue" sports- or drop some of them.

[laker]

That would be interesting. Not sure how much it is costing at the D3 level= but the expense of men's (and womens) hockey at the D1 level would be high.

One thing that people don't think about in the jump to D1 is the expense of sports other than football and basketball. It is a lot- and you either have to raise a lot of money for "non-revenue" sports- or drop some of them.

[Twincitiesmav]

UST administration seems fairly confident that they will be competing in division 1 in 2021. While its true no school has mad the jump, this is a pretty unique circumstance Basically getting kicked out of their confernce for being too successful, and they cant go D2 because there is no hockey in that division.

[Twincitiesmav]

I don't really see how this is a problem. Augie's decision to go D1 isn't dependent on St Thomas's decision. The people who keep worrying most about Augie's transition timeline are not Augie people. Augustana's administration has repeatedly stated that they are in the exploratory stages of making a transition to Division 1 with the hope of securing an invite in the next few years. Someone should definitely correct me if I'm wrong, but I interpret that as Augie's administration saying they are examining all angles and preparing for the next steps, not diving into the water without checking to see how deep it is first.

It has long been known that St. Thomas pretty much has the infrastructure to go D1, or at least has the resources to make it happen quickly, if they ever wanted to. Them being ready fairly quickly isn't a surprise to anyone who has followed sports in this region for the past 10 or 15 years.

Their securing of an invite doesn't necessarily mean Augie is woefully unprepared to secure an invite as well. Augie's administration is doing exactly what it said it would do when it made the announcement, which is, from my understanding, getting things in place before ultimately making a final decision. That being said, as has been noted in several news articles, Augie's administration has also been fairly tight-lipped about a lot of this process, so I could be 100% wrong too. I just have faith that the leadership at Augie doesn't want to be remembered as the leadership that basically ruined Augustana and its athletic department for the next few decades. That leads me to believe they won't make a completely idiotic decision on this moving forward.

[msumavfan]

You realize that UST road to D1 will take many years, up to 12 years. The NCAA will not give the Tommies a special agreement to go from D3 to D1 or more will look for that deal.

UST administration seems fairly confident that they will be competing in division 1 in 2021. While its true no school has mad the jump, this is a pretty unique circumstance Basically getting kicked out of their confernce for being too successful, and they cant go D2 because there is no hockey in that division.

[MrAugustana]

I don't really see how this is a problem. Augie's decision to go D1 isn't dependent on St Thomas's decision. The people who keep worrying most about Augie's transition timeline are not Augie people. Augustana's administration has repeatedly stated that they are in the exploratory stages of making a transition to Division 1 with the hope of securing an invite in the next few years. Someone should definitely correct me if I'm wrong, but I interpret that as Augie's administration saying they are examining all angles and preparing for the next steps, not diving into the water without checking to see how deep it is first.

It has long been known that St. Thomas pretty much has the infrastructure to go D1, or at least has the resources to make it happen quickly, if they ever wanted to. Them being ready fairly quickly isn't a surprise to anyone who has followed sports in this region for the past 10 or 15 years.

Their securing of an invite doesn't necessarily mean Augie is woefully unprepared to secure an invite as well. Augie's administration is doing exactly what it said it would do when it made the announcement, which is, from my understanding, getting things in place before ultimately making a final decision. That being said, as has been noted in several news articles, Augie's administration has also been fairly tight-lipped about a lot of this process, so I could be 100% wrong too. I just have faith that the leadership at Augie doesn't want to be remembered as the leadership that basically ruined Augustana and its athletic department for the next few decades. That leads me to believe they won't make a completely idiotic decision on this moving forward.

[vikingfaithful]

Independent?

Augustana has stated they will not go D1 without a conference invite. It's to good of a situation for the struggling Summit league not to invite an I29 team.

[vikingfaithful]

You realize that UST road to D1 will take many years, up to 12 years. The NCAA will not give the Tommies a special agreement to go from D3 to D1 or more will look for that deal.

[laker]

Independent?

Can you imagine filling out an independent schedule? They would end up like the Duluth Eskimos or Morris Brown- "On The Road Again"

[Ironlinks]

Pioneer League football would kill football at Augie........why go there non-schollie when you could get one 3 blocks north or head to Morningside or another NAIA school. It could help USF because they wouldn't recruit vs Augie anymore

[Twincitiesmav]

As an Augie alum in favor of the D1 move, I think this sign is idiotic and I'm embarrassed that Augie alums are responsible for it.

I think it's fair to ask the question, but if you're going to make a sign like this, first of all, don't make it look like garbage (which it does).

Second of all, as I watch the state crap its pants over College Gameday coming to Brookings and ESPN showing three hours (or whatever it is) of national broadcast time in the heart of SDSU's campus, the idea that we'd prefer to commit to small time for the rest of our school's existence rather than having any aspirations of taking things to another level and staying relevant in another ten years (rather than falling behind ANOTHER ten years as NDSU and SDSU and USD and UND continue to grow and develop resources and improve over where we are or ever could be) is frustrating.

To be clear, I'm not saying we'd be at the level where we'd be bringing College Gameday to Augie's campus anytime soon (or ever), but I know for sure we never will have that opportunity if we decide to dig our heels into the ground and never take a step toward the next level.

I just keep seeing programs around us that were once our rivals rise to national prominence while we "stay" D2. The inevitable outcome of that is that we will fade farther and farther into irrelevance and obscurity as time goes on. Others may be perfectly happy with that (obviously the ones who paid for the billboard feel that way), but I personally feel like it's a lack of vision to want to just stay comfortably settled. Probably harsh, but this is my immediate, unfiltered reaction to this sign/campaign.

To be clear, if the university can't put together the resources to make the jump effectively and we try to push forward unjustifiably and without the right financial support, then I 100% agree with the "Concerned Augustana Alumnists" who paid for that sign. It's stupid to go D1 if we can't actually afford to go D1. But if Augie's administration can prove it has the resources and support to legitimately make the jump, then I'm disappointed if our "alumnists" don't see the opportunity it presents to take things to the next level and be more recognized on a national scale.

[MrAugustana]

As an Augie alum in favor of the D1 move, I think this sign is idiotic and I'm embarrassed that Augie alums are responsible for it.

I think it's fair to ask the question, but if you're going to make a sign like this, first of all, don't make it look like garbage (which it does).

Second of all, as I watch the state crap its pants over College Gameday coming to Brookings and ESPN showing three hours (or whatever it is) of national broadcast time in the heart of SDSU's campus, the idea that we'd prefer to commit to small time for the rest of our school's existence rather than having any aspirations of taking things to another level and staying relevant in another ten years (rather than falling behind ANOTHER ten years as NDSU and SDSU and USD and UND continue to grow and develop resources and improve over where we are or ever could be) is frustrating.

To be clear, I'm not saying we'd be at the level where we'd be bringing College Gameday to Augie's campus anytime soon (or ever), but I know for sure we never will have that opportunity if we decide to dig our heels into the ground and never take a step toward the next level.

I just keep seeing programs around us that were once our rivals rise to national prominence while we "stay" D2. The inevitable outcome of that is that we will fade farther and farther into irrelevance and obscurity as time goes on. Others may be perfectly happy with that (obviously the ones who paid for the billboard feel that way), but I personally feel like it's a lack of vision to want to just stay comfortably settled. Probably harsh, but this is my immediate, unfiltered reaction to this sign/campaign.

To be clear, if the university can't put together the resources to make the jump effectively and we try to push forward unjustifiably and without the right financial support, then I 100% agree with the "Concerned Augustana Alumnists" who paid for that sign. It's stupid to go D1 if we can't actually afford to go D1. But if Augie's administration can prove it has the resources and support to legitimately make the jump, then I'm disappointed if our "alumnists" don't see the opportunity it presents to take things to the next level and be more recognized on a national scale.